Manchester City steal a march on signing Antoine Semenyo following Chelsea’s decision to withdraw their interest.
After Chelsea withdrew their interest in the Bournemouth winger, Manchester City is now in the lead to sign Antoine Semenyo.
Semenyo’s contract has a £65 million release clause that goes into effect during the first two weeks of January. Manchester United and Liverpool have also been vying for him, but it is said that the 25-year-old would prefer to join City. The clause consists of £5 million in add-ons and a fixed price of £60 million. As of yet, nothing has been decided.
On Tuesday, Chelsea looked into the terms of an agreement and asked about the Ghanaian’s wage demands. They concluded they were satisfied with their current attacking alternatives and withdrew their interest, and have left it to rival clubs to agree terms with Semenyo.
After losing Alexander Isak to a fractured leg, Liverpool has been following Semenyo for some time and may try to sign a forward. The 25-year-old has long piqued United’s interest, and they have tried to entice him. But as of right now, City seems to have the best chance of winning the contest. Semenyo, who has eight goals and three assists in the Premier League this season, is expected by rival teams to join Pep Guardiola’s team and increase their chances of winning the championship. Tottenham’s interest in Semenyo has previously been turned down.
Semenyo was acquired by Bournemouth from Bristol City two years ago, and since then, he has grown to become one of England’s top players. Although Bournemouth has demonstrated that they are not opposed to trading their finest players, Andoni Iraola wishes to keep Semenyo for the remainder of the season.
“I understand that there is a lot of noise around Antoine,” Iraola, said. “If you ask me, I don’t want to lose him, definitely don’t want to lose him. But like we always say, every time the market opens, you never know what’s going to happen.
“He has had moments where he hasn’t scored and has still been very valuable for us. At the end, we demand not only the numbers, but he gives us a lot of things. It’s no secret he is a massive player for us.”